SOMETIME last year I sent a tetchy letter complaining about the quantity of litter that had been chopped up and strewn along the Croft Road by one of the council mowers.

On April 30, after a long spell away, I was cycling back from Hurworth along the same road and the contrast was stunning!

There were no bottles or tins or paper to be seen, just grass, and a lone figure making his way along the verge, picking up every last remnant of rubbish he could find.

He was not wearing a high visibility jacket which made me wonder if he might have been a volunteer, rather than someone official; but what a transformation.

The morning mist was clearing, and I had a smashing ride home.

I wanted to tell him as much, but I didn’t and I’m sorry but it’s so hard these days not to sound like a patronizing git.

Jo Jones, Darlington